


Paranoia The Game

by petiteinsomniac



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Gen, i tried to write something fun and fluffy and it became comfort fluff in the end, oh well, this took me two days and i didn't mean for it to be this long oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 01:35:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15207956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petiteinsomniac/pseuds/petiteinsomniac
Summary: Cordelia suggests a game for the tight-knit family to play, and things get out of hand quickly.





	Paranoia The Game

**Author's Note:**

> my sister read me some post about this game and i immediately thought of the tkf playing it so here you go.

“Alright, we’re playing a game.” 

The announcement had come from Cordelia, and the rest of the group looked over at her in mild surprise. 

“Do we have to?” Trina asked, sounding vaguely anxious. She was perfectly content to just sit and host this little get-together, curled up against Mendel with a glass of wine in her hand as she kept an eye out to make sure that no one needed anything or that Jason didn’t try to sneak into the hallway to listen instead of going to sleep. 

“Yes, games are fun,” Whizzer replied immediately, leaning in with interest to look at Cordelia. “What kind of game?” he asked. 

“It’s called paranoia,” Cordelia said, and Charlotte shot her a hesitant look. 

“Honey, are you sure we should play that?” she asked. Cordelia looked over at her. 

“Why not?” she whined. “It’s fun!” Charlotte gave an almost imperceptible glance at Marvin and Whizzer, and Cordelia sighed. 

“What?” Marvin demanded, catching on as he mirrored Whizzer and leaned in. 

“It’s just that it can get people kind of riled up,” Cordelia said. Marvin frowned as Whizzer grinned. 

“I want to play,” MArvin declared. Trina rolled her eyes, Mendel cleared his throat nervously, and Whizzer laughed aloud. 

“Let’s play,” Whizzer said, and Cordelia shared a quick high-five with him. 

“Alright,” Charlotte agreed with the air of someone who knew what kind of a disaster she was walking in to. Trina just sighed. 

“How do we play?” Mendel asked, and Cordelia turned her bright smile on him to answer. 

“Okay, so Charlotte and I will start,” she said. “I’m going to whisper a question to her, to which the answer will be someone in this group. She’ll say her answer out loud, and then we’ll flip a coin. If it’s heads up, then we tell the rest of the group what the question was. If it’s tails, you don’t get to know. Make sense?” 

She looked around, receiving nods from each of them in various states of enthusiasm with Whizzer at one end of the spectrum and a reluctant Trina at the other. 

“Yay!” Cordelia said, and then promptly leaned in to whisper in her girlfriend’s ear. Charlotte laughed at whatever Cordelia had said and nodded. 

“Okay, my answer is...Whizzer,” Charlotte said decisively. 

“Ooh, I feel special,” Whizzer said. 

“I wouldn’t,” Charlotte chuckled, and Marvin gestured to Cordelia. 

“Flip the coin,” he said, and Cordelia complied, tossing her quarter and then flipping her hand to look at it. 

“Oh, it’s tails,” she reported with a shrug. “Guess that one’s staying a secret.” 

“Aw,” Whizzer said, but smiled slightly at the sound of Marvin’s impatient sigh. 

“So who’s next?” Mendel asked as Trina just watched it all warily.

“Now I’ll ask a question to Whizzer since he’s next to me,” Charlotte replied, and she leaned back as if thinking about that for a moment. Then, she leaned in and whispered to Whizzer, who smiled a little wickedly at her as he glanced around the circle. He ran his dark eyes over each of the group as if sizing them up. 

“Cordelia,” he said after a moment of consideration. 

“Yay!” Cordelia said as she flipped her coin with a smile at Whizzer. 

“Heads!” she announced excitedly. 

“So what was the question?” Mendel asked eagerly, looking far too interested for someone who wasn’t involved in the equation at all. 

“I asked who he thought would be the most fun at an amusement park,” Charlotte revealed. 

Marvin looked vaguely disappointed at how normal the question had been, while Trina looked relieved and Whizzer shrugged; Cordelia laughed and tilted her head at Whizzer. 

“Aw, thanks!” she said, and Whizzer laughed. 

“You’re the only fun one in this group besides myself, Delia,” he said. 

“Hey!” Marvin and Mendel both said. Whizzer laughed as he looked between them, and Cordelia rested her head briefly against Charlotte’s shoulder. 

“I am a lot of fun,” she mused, her bright gaze landing on Charlotte’s face. “But I think you are, too, for the record.” 

Charlotte chuckled and kissed the top of Cordelia’s head. 

“Thanks, baby,” she said. 

“My turn!” Whizzer announced and turned to Marvin with a smile. “I know the perfect question.” 

He leaned in against Marvin’s ear and whispered, “Who’s the most likely to lose in a fight?” Marvin laughed.

“Easy,” he said aloud to the group. “Mendel.” 

“Oh,” Mendel said with a glance at Trina. “Wonder what that was.” 

Marvin and Whizzer shared a look and they all turned expectantly to Cordelia, who flipped the coin and then sighed. 

“Tails,” she said. “Sorry, Mendel.” 

The psychiatrist shrugged, but he couldn’t resist a curious glance over at Marvin, who was looking rather smug. Trina looked between her ex-husband and her current one and then took Mendel’s hand. 

“That’s okay,” she said unnecessarily, and then glanced over at Marvin again. “Your turn,” she said. Marvin seemed to realize that he had to ask Trina a question, and looked nervously around. He sighed, and tapped his fingers against his knee. 

“Marvin,” Whizzer sang, and Marvin glared at him. 

“I’m thinking!” he said defensively. Whizzer smirked. 

“Think more quickly.” 

Marvin rolled his eyes, but the tension of the exchange was balanced by the way Marvin rested his hand on Whizzer’s thigh and Whizzer rested his hand atop Marvin’s. 

“Screw it,” Marvin said, deciding to just go for what he assumed was the real point of this game, and leaned in to speak quietly to Trina. After listening, she glared at him. 

“Marvin,” she hissed. He shrugged. 

“I don’t make the rules,” he said. 

“No, just the question,” Trina replied in exasperation. She sighed, looking around at the expectant way that they all watched her. 

“Mendel,” she said with a pointed look at Marvin. 

“Expected,” he remarked, and she rolled her eyes. 

“Uh, Trina?” Mendel asked with a nervous laugh. Trina didn’t answer, just looked over at Cordelia. 

“Please flip tails,” she all but begged. Cordelia bit her lip and flipped the quarter, looking apologetically at Trina as she announced that it was heads. 

“Ugh,” Trina groaned. 

“What was it?” Whizzer asked in Marvin’s direction, looking desperate to know. 

“I asked her who she’d most like to have sex with,” Marvin answered. Trina glanced nervously in the direction of the hallway, praying that Jason was actually asleep and not eavesdropping in the hallway. 

“And she answered Mendel?” Whizzer groaned. “That’s so sadly predictable.” 

“I’m married to him!” Trina objected. Mendel looked rather pleased, and Whizzer just shook his head. 

“You were also married to Marvin,” he pointed out. 

“Yes, right up until I found him...with you in my den,” Trina answered. Charlotte laughed, Cordelia hid a smile, and Whizzer nodded. 

“Fair enough,” he conceded. 

Trina shook her head. 

“My turn?” she asked for confirmation, which she received in the form of a nod from Cordelia. She took much less time than Marvin to deliberate before leaning in to ask Mendel a question. He turned red immediately, looking over at her in surprise. 

“Seriously?” he asked. Trina nodded stubbornly. 

“Oh, Marvin, what have you started?” Whizzer asked with undisguised glee as his gaze flickered between Mendel and Trina. 

“Alright,” Mendel acquiesced under Trina’s insistent gaze. “Um...Marvin.” 

“Flip the coin,” Whizzer begged. 

“Heads.” 

“Yes!” Whizzer cheered. 

“Why?” Mendel breathed. 

“I asked who he’d least like to have sex with,” Trina replied, with a pointed glance in Marvin’s direction. 

“Oh, that was clever because she knew what his answer was going to be,” Whizzer observed as he sat back and took a drink of his wine. He nodded toward Trina. “Well played,” he added, and she shrugged slightly. 

“Can we please just move on?” Mendel pleaded. No one spoke, so he leaned close to Cordelia, who looked excited to take her turn, and whispered to her. She looked around and answered, “Trina”, who looked vaguely surprised to hear her name. The coin flip was tails, and about half the group looked disappointed. 

“It’s fine,” Cordelia said in Whizzer’s direction. “It wasn’t too interesting.” 

“You mean it wasn’t sexual,” Mendel amended. 

“Correct,” Cordelia confirmed. She shrugged at him. “It’s what makes the game fun.” 

Mendel shook his head and took a drink. 

“You’re all very repressed,” he said. 

“Oh, like you’re not?” Marvin snorted. Mendel seemed to think about that and then nodded. 

“Yeah, you’ve got a point there,” he conceded. 

“Yay, it’s my turn again!” Cordelia cheered, turning to her girlfriend with a smile. “Ready?” 

“Uh huh,” Charlotte replied. 

“This is going to get very sexual now, isn’t it?” Trina sighed. 

“Uh huh,” Whizzer said enthusiastically. Trina exhaled and stood to go and check on Jason- just in case. When she returned, having found Jason thankfully sound asleep, Charlotte was laughing at the question that Cordelia had asked. 

“Whizzer,” Charlotte answered. 

“Again?” Marvin asked. 

“You would have said Whizzer too,” Charlotte answered immediately, which made Cordelia laugh. Charlotte smiled over at her at the sound of her laughter. 

“Heads,” Cordelia reported through her lingering laughter. 

“Who’s the kinkiest,” Charlotte informed them. “That was the question.” 

“Undoubtedly,” Whizzer snorted. “She’s right, you would have said it was me, too,” he added as he looked over at Marvin. 

“I might have said it was me,” Marvin said, and Whizzer smiled. 

“Care to elaborate?” he asked. 

“Please don’t,” Trina begged. 

“I won’t,” Marvin answered, his eyes still on Whizzer. Whizzer raised his eyebrows defiantly, thoroughly enjoying the fact that Marvin was already getting riled up over this stupid game. They were both competitive, and while things were different now, Whizzer still loved nothing more than to push Marvin’s buttons. 

“My turn,” Charlotte said, and the tone of her voice set Trina and Marvin on edge for very different reasons. Whizzer just grinned and shot Marvin a devilish look. 

“Mendel,” Whizzer said, and Charlotte stared at him for just a beat too long. 

“What?” Marvin asked her. She tried to shrug it off. 

“Nothing,” she answered. Whizzer glanced at Marvin, caught his eye, and then ran his gaze pointedly up and down Mendel, from his head to his feet and back again. Mendel looked nervously between Marvin and Whizzer, the latter of whom looked very smug and the former of whom looked increasingly angry. 

“What was the question?” Marvin asked in a low voice. He was particularly aware that Whizzer was no longer resting his hand on Marvin’s knee as he had been moments ago, and while the large part of him knew that this was all an act to rile him up, that didn’t stop it from being effective. 

“She hasn’t flipped the coin, Marv,” Whizzer drawled slowly, never once taking his eyes off of an uncomfortable Mendel. 

“What was the question?” Marvin repeated. Cordelia, sensing the tension and beginning to regret the decision to play the game at all, quickly flipped the coin. 

“Tails,” she said, looking up and meeting Marvin’s gaze. “But I can tell you-” 

“No,” Whizzer objected. 

“I’m done,” Marvin announced in a voice that was just soft enough that it caught Whizzer’s attention as Marvin stood from the couch and stormed out of the room and into Trina’s kitchen, leaving the rest of them in stunned silence. Whizzer watched him go, suddenly very much regretting his little stunt. He sighed, all the bravade wiped from his face as he looked worriedly after Marvin. 

“Go,” Charlotte urged him softly. Whizzer met her gaze a little uncertainly. Then he nodded and left the others in silence to follow Marvin, their tight-knit family game night suddenly in shambles. It was Whizzer’s fault and he knew it, but he and MArvin were still struggling to figure out their boundaries- how far was too far, where the line was. It wasn’t as easy as it looked. He found Marvin in the kitchen, leaning over the kitchen counter with his knuckles white. 

“Marvin?” he asked softly. 

“What?” Marvin snapped. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Why would you think I wasn’t?” Marvin snarled. “Figured you’d be too busy ogling Mendel of all people to care.” 

“Hey,” Whizzer objected. “Marvin, it was just a game.” 

The phrase echoed in the kitchen. It was just a game. And it had been last time, too, hadn’t it? Hadn’t it been just a game that had ended everything? Whizzer met Marvin’s gaze, both of them pale at the recollection of the game that had torn them apart. 

Whizzer glanced away and when he looked back, he was startled to see tears in Marvin’s eyes, a sight which tugged at something in his chest, insistent and unpleasant. 

“Hey,” he said softly, taking a hesitant step forward. “Hey, Marvin. It’s okay.” 

“Why do you do that?” Marvin asked in frustration, looking desperately at Whizzer. “Why do you just...try to make me angry? Bait me the way that you do?” 

Whizzer looked down at his feet, his expensive brown leather shoes a stark contrast to the clean, shining white tile floor of Trina’s kitchen. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s just...a thing that I do,” he finished lamely. He looked earnestly at Marvin. “But I don’t mean it to be hurtful, Marvin, I swear I wasn’t trying to upset you.” 

Marvin couldn’t help but thaw at that, with Whizzer looking at him so sincerely and with such warmth in his dark eyes, warmth that had not existed in more than a glance before their breakup and subsequent reconciliation two years later. 

“I’m sorry,” Whizzer said. “I really didn’t mean to.” 

“I know,” Marvin choked. He cursed himself inwardly for his tears, for his anger, for his inability to hold it together. 

“Marvin,” Whizzer breathed. “Please don’t.” 

“Sorry,” Marvin whispered. 

“No, come here,” Whizzer replied and then next second, they were holding one another in the middle of Marvin’s ex-wife’s kitchen, and Marvin took a steadying breath. 

“You know you’re the only person that I want to be with, right?” Whizzer asked hesitantly, and Marvin nodded against his shoulder even though there were still moments when he wasn’t sure. 

“Marvin?” Whizzer said softly. 

“Yeah?” 

“If I ever start to express attraction toward Mendel, please take that as a sign that my body has been inhabited by something other than my soul.” 

Marvin couldn’t help the laugh that burst through his own internal darkness at that, bringing a small smile to Whizzer’s face as he pulled away and brushed a stray tear from Marvin’s cheek. It had been a tender gesture, but it was followed by Whizzer’s faintly disgusted look at the moisture on his fingertips before he gingerly wiped them on Marvin’s shirt. Marvin laughed again, suddenly very grateful that Whizzer was in his life. 

“Whizzer?” he asked hesitantly. 

“Hmm?” 

“What was the question?” This time there was no anger or threatening tone behind the words, just meek curiosity. Whizzer smiled knowingly. 

“She asked me who gives the worst advice,” he replied. There was a moment of silence, and then laughter from Marvin, the kind of infectious, happy laughter that always set Whizzer off. And then they were both laughing, and in the den the rest of their little family looked at one another knowingly. 

They were a messy bunch, but they were family and by the sounds of Marvin and Whizzer laughing in the kitchen, Trina was thinking that maybe everything would be alright after all.


End file.
